2011 NBA FINALS GAME 2 — Mavericks Adjustments

I know he and the Mavericks and even LeBron James are downplaying it, but I’m worried about Dirk Nowitzki’s finger entering tonight’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals here in Miami. Just because it’ll be different. “I’ll be fine,” Dirk says. “It’ll be okay.” But he loves to dribble left…

So, How Was Caraway’s Trip to Nigeria?

I hope Mayor-For-Now Dwaine Caraway brought back pictures from his trip to Nigeria, where he’s been for the past eight days to attend the swearing-in of President Goodluck Jonathan and tend to some business. He’s back this evening, and in advance of his return sends word that, why, matter of…

2011 NBA FINALS — South Beach: My Top 10 Observations

10. Ate dinner last night at Prime Italian on South Beach. In the midst of ridiculous opulence in the form of $20 valet parking and $100,000 cars, it was relatively affordable. $125 for a steak and a couple drinks. Thumbs up. 9. They also offered prime Kobe steak for $30 an…

Senator Wendy Davis Draws a Line in the Dirt

Hooray for Wendy: Thankfully, once in a while the political system churns out a Wendy Davis, the 48-year-old Senate freshman from Fort Worth who filibustered Governor Rick Perry’s legislative session to a grave Sunday night. How was this going to end otherwise? Perry has engineered the session as a vicious…

Final Destinations: 2

MIAMI—The Dallas Mavericks, America’s Team. Get used to it, because the Mavs are going to win their first-ever NBA championship this summer. And they’re going to do it as a beloved underdog, resolute in revenge and cheered by a country during their redemption. As much as Americans love sequels and…

Bridge to Somewhere

The white paint on Felix Losada’s home in West Dallas is wearing away. His brittle wooden porch swing seems ready to snap at any moment. Old but neatly maintained, the house fades into a swath of similar homes, worn and seemingly attached to the ground by winding roots rather than…

YMCA Miami-Dallas Wager Worth Your Time

Several Friends of Unfair Park have sent a heads-up about a particular wager over Mavs-Heat — no, not the governors’ cheapskate bet, but this what-the pitting Bishop Kevin Farrell of the Diocese of Dallas against Archbishop of Miami Thomas Wenski. Stone crabs and cigars, tortillas and pecan pie — now…

How’s the City Spending the Tax Hike, Pt. 2?

We’re getting closer and closer to City Manager Mary Suhm’s proposed FY2011-’12 budget, which she plans to give to council members in a couple of weeks before they go on summer vacation. And, sure, she still needs to find $60 mil in cuts, give or take, before the thing’s balanced…

Reviewing the Redistricting, So Far

Yesterday morning, the state House Committee on Redistricting and the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting released what’s known as PlanC125 — or the Solomons-Seliger Congressional Proposal — which you can see here. Today, Houston Chronicle Washington bureau chief Rick Dunham, a 30-year veteran of the puzzling process, breaks it down…

2006: Broken Heart. 2011: Torn Tendon. Ugh.

The frustrating thing about Dirk Nowitzki’s injured finger? It happened on a play that wasn’t a foul. “I thought I stripped him clean,” Dirk said after last night’s 92-84 Game 1 loss to the Heat in the NBA Finals. “Then I kind of looked down and I couldn’t straighten my…

Before the Council Talks Trash This Morning …

No doubt most of you aren’t all that concerned where your garbage gets dumped, so long as it’s picked up and hauled off on time. That said, the subject’s slowly but surely becoming a hot topic at City Hall, as City Manager Mary Suhm and Sanitation Services Director Mary Nix…